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Orioles promoting Heston Kjerstad, former No. 2 overall pick, to Triple-A Norfolk

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

It took Heston Kjerstad two years after he was drafted to make his professional debut. He needed less than one to reach the cusp of the majors.The Orioles are promoting Kjerstad, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk, a team source confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. The 24-year-old hit .310 with a .959 OPS for the Baysox.Kjerstad developed myocarditis, a heart condition, shortly after Baltimore unexpectedly took him with its top pick in 2020. In the spring of 2022, he suffered a severe left hamstring straight that further delayed the start of his career. On June 10 — two years to the day after he was drafted — he made his professional debut with Low-A Delmarva.He largely hasn’t stopped hitting since. Kjerstad, a left-handed hitter who impressed the Orioles with his power at the University of Arkansas, hit .463 with a 1.201 OPS for the Shorebirds. He struggled with High-A Aberdeen, a level that has challenged many of Baltimo...

Roger Craig, first Mets starting pitcher, dies at 93

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

Roger Craig, who started the first game in Mets franchise history, has died.He was 93-years-old.The news was announced Sunday afternoon by the San Francisco Giants.Craig took the mound for the Mets on April 11, 1962 in an eventual 11-4 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis.Craig went 10-24 for the team, which finished 40-120, a modern record for futility that hasn’t been matched since. He went 5-22 for the Mets in 1963 before a trade to the Cardinals.Craig had a long career in baseball, the 6-foot-4 righty debuted with the World-Series-winning Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. He won another championship with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959. He won his third World Series with the Cardinals in 1964.Craig retired after the 1966 campaign with career marks of a 74-98 record and 3.83 ERA in 368 games, including 186 starts.Craig later became a manager, leading both the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. In parts of eight seasons in the Bay Area, his teams went 566-509 and beat the Chic...

Yankees beat Dodgers with help from small ball and German before Volpe’s homer

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Volpe’s two-run homer in the ninth put a dagger in the Dodgers, but the Yankees also needed some small ball to win Sunday’s rubber match, 4-1.The first run of the game would not have been possible without a well-placed Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunt and an inexplicable, off-balance throw from Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol, who fired to an uncovered first base. The ill-advised decision gave the Yankees runners on second and third with one out in the seventh, and Jake Bauers proceeded to score on a broken bat groundout from Kyle Higashioka.J.D. Martinez answered back with a solo home run off Domingo German in the bottom of the seventh, but the Yankees responded in the eighth with a walk from Anthony Rizzo and a double from Giancarlo Stanton. The recently demoted and promoted Oswaldo Cabrera then brought the game-winning run home with a soft groundball to the first base side of the mound.Volpe then gave the Yankees breathing room, crushing his ninth...

No survivors found after plane that flew over DC and led to fighter jet scramble crashes in Virginia

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.Hours later, police said rescuers had reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found. The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York’s Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m.It was not immediately clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board. The plane flew directly over the nation’s capital, though it was technicall...

Heat roar back in final quarter, beat Nuggets 111-108 to tie NBA Finals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and the Miami Heat evened up the NBA Finals by overcoming a monster effort from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night.Max Strus scored 14 and Duncan Robinson had 10 for the Heat, who had a big early lead, then got down by as many as 15 before reclaiming the lead in the fourth. Miami outscored Denver 36-25 in the final period, erasing an eight-point deficit going into the final frame.And even then, they had to dig deep to finish it off.Jokic scored 41 points and was 16 of 28 from the floor, the last of those shots a 4-footer with 36 seconds left to get the Nuggets within three.Denver elected not to foul on the ensuing Miami possession. Butler missed a 3, and with a chance to tie, Jamal Murray missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver, while Aaron Gordon had 12 points and Bruce Brown scored 11.Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami. Denv...

Australian mother pardoned and freed because of reasonable doubt she killed her 4 children

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state government attorney-general said on Monday a woman who has spent 20 years in prison for killing her four children had been pardoned and released.New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley said he had advised Gov. Margaret Beazley to unconditionally pardon Kathleen Folbigg, now 55.Daley said former justice Tom Bathurst had advised him last week that there was reasonable doubt about Folbigg’s guilt based on new scientific evidence that the deaths could have been from natural causes.Bathurst conducted the second inquiry into Folbigg’s guilt.Folbigg was serving a 30-year prison sentence which was to expire in 2033. She would have become eligible for parole in 2028.The children died separately over a decade, at between 19 days and 19 months old, and their mother insisted their deaths were from natural causes.Bathurst’s final report could recommend that the New South Wales Court of Appeals quash her convictions. The Associated...

Cedar Park Police charge man with murder in Circle K shooting

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — Cedar Park Police arrested a suspect Sunday in connection to a fatal shooting at a Circle K gas station Friday night, according to a press release from the agency.Bradley Stanford, 23, is charged with one count of murder, a first-degree felony.Prior to the shooting, a "verbal exchange" occurred in the gas station's parking lot between Stanford and 24-year-old Akira Ross, according to Cedar Park Police.Officers responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting around 9:50 p.m., and found Ross dead when they arrived. The gas station is located at 12020 N. FM 620.At around 5:15 p.m. Sunday, Cedar Park Police and San Patricio County Tactical Response Team arrested Stanford in Ingleside, Texas. According to the press release, the Aransas Pass and Ingleside Police Departments also assisted in the case.The agency said that the shooting is still an ongoing investigation.

Huge 3rd inning lifts Texas Longhorns to regional title, spot in super regionals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With weather delays keeping other regional championship games on hold, the Texas Longhorns were one the first teams to qualify Sunday for the super regionals.The Longhorns went a perfect 3-0 in the Coral Gables regional, topping No. 9 Miami 10-6 in the title game at Mark Light Field behind a 9-run third inning capped by a Jalin Flores grand slam.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters"We got behind early but did a great job continuing to play the game," Longhorns head coach David Pierce said. "We weren't our best offensively with some of the guys that have been playing well for us, but that's why it's called a team. We had three guys at the bottom of the lineup do a lot of us, and I'm proud of all of them."The Longhorns had seven of their eight total hits in the big frame. Jared Thomas got the scoring going with an RBI double, then Peyton Powell smacked a two-...

St. Louis sheriff says his deputies are underpaid

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts says something must be done about his deputies’ pay.Starting pay for a St. Louis sheriff’s deputy is $34,000 a year, according to Betts, which is less than other departments in the area.Betts says the city sheriff’s department does an important job protecting the public.Deputies are responsible for security at the city’s courts and inside courtrooms. They patrol parking lots during sporting events and other events that draw a lot of people downtown. They also provide security on MetroLink.“Well, I see everybody around the city is getting raises. The board of aldermen, the St. Louis (Metropolitan) Police Department, and my staff needs a raise more than any of those folks. We are the lowest-paid law enforcement agency in the St. Louis region. We make less than Franklin County, Jefferson County, (and) St Charles County,” Betts said. Ballwin man killed in I-44 collision with abandoned truck According to Sheriff Betts, St. Charles deputies are...

Heat catches fire from 3-point range to steal Game 2 of NBA Finals from Nuggets

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:06:01 GMT

Scrappy and relentless, the Miami Heat came to Denver and did what no other team this postseason had done: win.Jamal Murray missed what would’ve been a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Heat hung on, 111-108, to seize Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night and even the series at 1-1.The Nuggets nearly stormed back from a 12-point deficit with only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, but their defense betrayed them. The Heat outscored Denver 36-25 in the fourth quarter.Beyond Nikola Jokic’s 41-point night, Murray was their second-leading scorer with 18 points. Michael Porter Jr. struggled mightily on both ends, finishing with just five points, while Aaron Gordon added only 12.The Nuggets fell to 9-1 in Denver so far through the playoffs. They’ll try and re-group ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3 when the series shifts to Miami.Bam Adebayo finished with 21 points as did Jimmy Butler. But Miami caught fire from the 3-point line, finishing 17 of 35 from outside. It yielded a...